By 2020, the contribution of mobile industry to the country’s GDP will increase to 8.2 per cent from the current 6.5 per cent.

Rajan S Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India has said that the recent results announced by the telecom companies are not an indication of a healthy growth of the sector.

"The recent results announced by the telecom companies are not an indication of a healthy growth of the sector. Immediate policy-level interventions are required to uplift the financial health of the sector and to ensure that we move in the right direction of pursuing our national goals," he said.

Meanwhile recently experts from the industry, government, and academicians, came together to discuss technology and policy developments for addressing solutions and promoting sustainable practices through innovation and application of technology.

Rajan says, "India is currently the world's second-largest telecommunications market and it is only growing stronger. As one of the key contributors to the national growth, Indian telecom industry today has touched more lives than before. We have not only connected people, we have also provided a robust platform for ideas and innovations to flourish. We are proud of serving over a billion Indians both connecting and empowering them for delivering the digital future."

He added, "On the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day today, COAI proudly announces the theme of Indian telecom industry for the year as "Telecom & Connectivity as tools for Accelerating Human Development in India".

He further added, "By 2020, the contribution of mobile industry to the country's GDP will increase to 8.2 per cent from the current 6.5 per cent. It is also expected to generate four million direct and indirect jobs over the next five years. Globally, we will also have between 26 billion and 50 billion Internet-connected devices by 2020."

COAI also mentions that over Rs 9,27,000 crores have been invested so far by telecom service provider (TSPs0 in building world class Telecom Infrastructure. About 3.51 lakh BTSs were added and subscribers have crossed the mark of 1 billion.

Total internet subscribers in India are 261.31 million as per TRAI data.